Atlanta Hawks 2019-2020 Season Preview

The Atlanta Hawks, in the
coming season, look to continue their rebuilding process around emerging young
stars Trae Young, John Collins, and the new ones they just drafted. While the
team seems to be moving in the right direction under coach Lloyd Pierce and
general manager Travis Schlenk after a big decline the season before, fans will
have to continue to be patient. It is unlikely that the team will end its
drought of 60 years without an NBA title, which came even before the team moved
to Atlanta more than 50 years ago. But the Hawks could still be a fun team to
watch.

Atlanta Hawks: 2018-2019 Year In Review

Like in 2017-18, the Atlanta Hawks finished in the last
place in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast Division, but it was still a marked
improvement over the year before when they catered after appearing in the
playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons. They finished the year 29-53, which was 5
more wins than the year before, and they finished 12th in the conference,
moving up from 15th the year before.

Their key addition was point guard Trae Young, who was the
5th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. The Hawks controversially traded the rights to
the 3rd pick in the draft, Luka Dončić, for him and a future 1st-round pick.
While Dončić won Rookie of the Year and is a bonafide superstar, Young was also
impressive, scoring 19.1 points per game, along with 8.1 assists per game, on
the way to becoming, like Dončić, a unanimous selection to the All-Rookie First
Team.

Also, impressive last season was the team’s 1st-round
selection from the year before, power forward John Collins. While Collins was
no slouch in his rookie year and was named to the All-Rookie Second Team, last
year Collins almost doubled his scoring, from 10.5 points per game to 19.5
points per game while increasing his rebounding from 7.3 per game to 9.8 per
game.

Atlanta Hawks: New Veterans

Among the many veterans that the Atlanta Hawks added to their roster in the off-season, here are the most significant.

Jabari Parker

Atlanta signed the former 1st-round draft pick in July after the Washington Wizards declined his $20 million option. Parker, who can play both forward positions, played for both Chicago and Washington last season. At the latter, he put up solid numbers, with 15 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game.

Photo by Chris Guest on Soaring Down South

Chandler Parsons

Atlanta traded Solomon Hill, whom they acquired in a trade with New Orleans, and Miles Plumee to Memphis for Parsons, who has been plagued by injuries in recent years. But if the small forward can regain his health, he could be a valuable scoring option for the Hawks.

Photo by Fresh Prince Sports on Youtube

Damian Jones

The Hawks traded Omari Spellman to Golden State to get Jones and a future 2nd-round draft pick. As a center, Jones was an enigma for the Warriors. He had enough talent to start last year for one of the most talented teams in the league, but he never produced much. It will now be up to Atlanta to tap his potential and help fill the void left by departing starting center Dewayne Dedmon.

Evan Turner

Turner and his $18.6 million salaries came to the Hawks in a trade with Portland for the equally overpaid Kent Bazemore. His best days are likely past him, but he is still capable of getting hot now and then, making him a serviceable wingman off the bench.

Allen Crabbe

The Hawks acquired Crabbe from Brooklyn in a salary dump (he
is making more than $18 million this season), which netted them some valuable
draft picks. Like Turner, Crabbe is a serviceable wingman off the bench.

The Atlanta Hawks drafted the following three players in the 2019 NBA Draft.

De’Andre Hunter

Hunter was drafted by
the Los Angeles Lakers with the 4th overall pick in the draft. The Lakers then
traded him to New Orleans in the Anthony Davis deal, and New Orleans traded him
to Atlanta along with Solomon Hill for 3 2019 draft picks.

Hunter, who is a 6’7”
225 lb small forward from the University of Virginia can play a variety of
positions, won a slew of awards last year, including:

Second-team All-American (NABC)

Third-team All-American (AP, USBWA, and SN)

NABC Defensive Player of the Year

First-team All-ACC

ACC Defensive Player of the Year

What’s more, he played
for the national champion Cavaliers and brought a winning attitude to a team
that has not seen much winning in recent years.

Cam Reddish

Reddish was picked 6
selections after Hunter. As Hunter, the 6’8” 208 lb small forward from Duke is
versatile and can play a variety of positions. While he did not put up huge
numbers during his one season at the school, every rating service gave him a
score of 5.

On draft day, general manager
Travis Schlenk said that the team would ignore positions and draft the best
players available, and he meant it. Reddish and Hunter — along with 2018 1st-round draft pick Kevin Huerter — play the same position but also could play all over the
court, giving the team a slick shooting lineup similar to the one Schlenk had
when he was the assistant general manager of Golden State.

Bruno Fernando

Philadelphia selected Fernando with the 34th pick of the
draft before trading him to Atlanta. The 6’7” 237 lb power forward is
originally from Angola and played college basketball at the University of
Maryland, where he won several awards last year, including First-team All-Big
Ten and Big Ten All-Defensive team.

Fernando was projected by some to be a mid-1st-round pick,
but he fell to the 2nd round because his game is considered raw at the moment.
But he brings plenty of upside for the Hawks in the future.

With lots of youth and versatility, the starting lineup for
the Atlanta Hawks will likely be more fluid than it will be for most teams
around the league. They have to both replace center Dewayne Dedmon and put all
their considerable young talent on the floor at the same time. Because of this,
and because of Schlenk’s background in Golden State, the following starting 5
is a strong possibility:

Trae Young, Point Guard

Kevin Huerter, Shooting Guard

Cam Reddish, Small Forward

De’Andre Hunter, Power Forward

John Collins, Center

While small, a starting lineup such
as this would give the Hawks a potent offense, especially as all five of these
players can hit 3-pointers very well. They could be formidable defensively as
well, apart from Young, who at the moment is a bit one-dimensional.

The key players off the bench for the Atlanta Hawks include
(in alphabetical order):

DeAndre’ Bembry, Shooting Guard

Vince Carter, Shooting Guard

Allen Crabbe, Shooting Guard

Bruno Fernando, Power Forward

Damian Jones, Center

Jabari Parker, Power Forward

Chandler Parsons, Small Forward

Evan Turner, Shooting Guard

One of the Hawks’ most
important signings in the offseason was re-signing guard Vince Carter. Playing
in his 22nd season in the league, Carter is no longer the dominant player he
once was, but his experience and leadership will be invaluable on a team so
young. Anything he adds on the court will only be a plus.

It would not be surprising if
several players on this list, including Parker, Parsons, and Jones, regularly
find themselves in the starting lineup at some point in the season.

Atlanta Hawks: Strengths And Weaknesses

One of the Atlanta Hawks’
biggest strengths is also its biggest weakness: its youth. Their young players
could bring a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, but they are also likely to
make lots of mistakes. Their success and failure may largely rest in the hands
of head coach Lloyd Pierce. Now in his second season, the 43-year-old Pierce
had never been a head coach before at any level of basketball. His ability to
mold all the Hawks’ young talent into a team may determine whether the Hawks
become the east-coast version of the Warriors or just another in a long line of
busts. This is another reason why the re-signing of Carter is so important to
the team’s success. Only one year younger than Pierce, he can aid Pierce
greatly.

On the court, last season
shooting, defense, and rebounding were all weaknesses for the team. At least on
paper, all the components are there for them to dramatically improve in all
three areas, to the extent that they can all be strengths of the team.

Atlanta Hawks: Projections

It would be easy to predict an incremental improvement for
the Atlanta Hawks this season, similar to what they experienced a year ago. But
this group of talented young players, playing in a poor division and an equally
poor conference, can help the team improve at a far greater increment. A 40+-
win season is, therefore, a distinct possibility, along with a playoff spot,
and in a few years, they could very well be challenging the Bucks for supremacy
in the East.